they hanged him, i said dismissively - dennis brutus

They Hanged Him, I Said Dismissively
by Dennis Brutus

They hanged him, I said dismissively
having no other way to say he died
or that he was a dear friend
or that work wove us most intimately
in common tasks, ambitions, desires.
Now he is dead: and I dare not think
of the anguish that drove him to where he was
or the pain at their hands he must have faced
or how much he was racked by my distress:
now, it is still easiest to say, they hanged him,
dismissively.

i live my life in growing orbits - rainer maria rilke

I live my life in growing orbits
by Rainer Maria Rilke

I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt.

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years,
and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, or a storm,
or a great song.

sonnet xcviii - william shakespeare

Sonnet XCVIII
by William Shakespeare

From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leapt with him.
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew:
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
   Yet seemed it winter still, and you away,
   As with your shadow I with these did play.

exhaustion at sunset - mark strand

Exhaustion at Sunset

by Mark Strand

The empty heart comes home from a busy day at the office.  And what is the empty heart to do but empty itself of emptiness.  Sweeping out the unsweepable takes an effort of mind, the fruitless exertion of faculties already burdened.  Poor empty heart, old before its time, how it struggles to do what the mind tells it to do.  But the struggle comes to nothing.  The empty heart cannot do what the mind commands.  It sits in the dark, daydreams, and the emptiness grows.